From the Shadows of the Past
by wotsfreek
Summary: Albus Potter and his cousin Rose begin their first year at Hogwarts with the excitement that their parents had, but from the shadows of the past comes a threat to their family and all of the wizarding world. Picks up after the DH Epilogue.
1. Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, and I am quite sad to see Half-Blood Prince get a PG rating.

**From the Shadows of the Past**

**Chapter One**

**Hogwarts**

Albus Potter walked nervously down the aisle of the Hogwarts Express pulling his trunk along with him. He was following the red hair of his cousin Rose who was currently on a mission to find an empty compartment for them.

Just when Albus thought she should give up Rose suddenly let out a cry of success and surged forward into the very last compartment.

"Told you we would find one!" Rose declared triumphantly when Albus entered the compartment.

He smiled at her before turning to lift his trunk onto the luggage rack, which was a more difficult task than he had expected. After a long struggle he finally succeeded in pushing his trunk all the way onto the rack. He turned to find Rose trying to contain laughter after watching the entire spectacle.

Albus felt his cheeks redden.

"Well let's see you do it then!" He said in a challenging voice.

"You would make a _lady_ stow her own trunk while you watch?" She asked with an incredulous look on her face.

"What lady?" Albus managed to retort.

Rose was only able to look offended for a second before she burst out laughing.

Together they heaved Rose's trunk onto the rack with relative ease.

When they had both plopped down opposite each other the door to the compartment opened, revealing a tall boy with a mop of thick brown hair, a round face, and inquisitive eyes.

"Hello," he said, "do you mind if I join you? Most of the compartments are pretty full."

Rose looked at Albus who shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, we've got plenty of room." She said.

The boy nodded, and entered the compartment with his trunk in tow.

Albus stood to help the boy with his trunk, but sat down when the boy lifted it onto the rack without much effort.

"So what's you're name" Rose asked.

"Ewan Adamson, it's my first year here." The boy replied, as he took a seat next to Albus.

"Hello Ewan, we're new here too, I'm Rose Weasley, and this is my cousin Al Potter." Rose said, gesturing at Albus.

"Nice to meet you guys." Ewan said, "Do you know what house you're going to get sorted into?"

"Well our parents were all in Gryffindor, so that's most likely where we'll go. What about you?" Rose said back to him.

"Oh well both my parents are 'muggles' so I don't really know." Ewan said emphasizing the word muggles, "I've read about all the houses though and Gryffindor sounds nice."

"You're parents are muggles?" Rose asked.

"Yeah I'm the-" Ewan began, but was interrupted when the door opened again.

A girl with platinum blond hair and a sharp jaw was standing just outside the door. Behind her a large trunk stood in the corridor with the letters KSP displayed on the side.

"Hi, would you guys mind if I sat with you? I think you have the only compartment with less than five people in it already," she said.

"Alright, come on in." Rose said after trading glances with the two other occupants.

"Thanks." The girl said, sounding relieved.

Albus stood once again as she entered the compartment to help her stow her trunk.

The girl pulled her trunk in after her, and together with Albus they lifted it onto the luggage rack next to the others.

"Thanks." She said again, taking a seat next to Rose.

Albus nodded back and sat back down.

Rose once again introduced herself and Albus, "I'm Rose Weasley, and this is my cousin Al Potter." She said, noting that the girl had yet to look away from her cousin.

"And I'm Ewan Adamson." Ewan piped up.

The girl looked at Albus for a few seconds longer before seeming to remember that she was supposed to introduce herself in return.

"I'm Kris Paxton, it's my first year at Hogwarts as well." The girl said, still looking at Albus.

"What house do you think you'll be sorted into?" Ewan said, suddenly jumping into the conversation.

"Oh I don't know, my father was in Slytherin, and my mother was in Ravenclaw, though I've heard that sometimes kids go into different houses than the rest of their family." Kris said, finally tearing her gaze away from Albus in order to look at Ewan while she spoke.

"Is that true?" Albus spoke up for the first time since Ewan had entered.

"Yes, it's not too common, but it definitely happens." Kris said, turning back to Albus. "Where do you all think you're going to be sorted?" She asked.

"Probably Gryffindor, like my parents." Rose said when Kris looked at her first.

"I have no idea, I'm the first person in my family to have a lick of magic in them." Ewan said when Kris looked to him next.

"So you're a muggleborn?" She asked with a curious look.

"Yeah, this whole thing is unreal." Ewan said back.

Kris regarded him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds before finally turning to Albus. "And where do you think you'll go?" She said to him.

"I-I don't know, Gryffindor maybe? That's where my whole family went." Albus said feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"Don't worry about it, you'll make friends wherever you go, I'm sure." Kris said reassuringly, "But don't feel tied to one house just because your family went there." She added.

Albus nodded again, and looked out the window at the passing countryside.

Rose looked as though she were about to say something when the door opened for a third time.

Albus looked over to find his brother standing outside with a couple of his friends.

"Hey Al, mom told me that I _had_ to to check on you guys on the train." James said in an overly dramatic fashion.

"And who are _you_?" Kris asked aggressively.

James looked surprised for a moment before drawing himself up to full height and saying, "James Potter." with as much fanfare as he could muster.

"Delighted." Kris said, sounding completely uninterested.

James looked confused again before recovering his composure.

"Seems like you've made some... interesting friends Al." James said with a look at Kris.

When no one said anything for a moment, Rose broke the silence.

"Well thank you for checking on us James, that was nice of you." She said.

"Just wanted to make sure you kiddies didn't get scared." James said as he turned and left, his friends following close behind.

"That was your brother?" Kris asked Albus, who nodded.

"Not very impressive, is he?" She asked.

Though it had been a rhetorical question, Rose responded anyway, "He's not so bad, he was probably just trying to show off for his friends."

"Well that didn't work out too well, did it?" Kris said back.

Rose sighed and turned to Ewan, apparently giving up on Kris.

"So Ewan, how did your parents take you being a wizard?" Rose asked.

Albus zoned back out before he had heard the answer.

---

Albus woke to the feeling of being watched. He opened his eyes to find that the sun had sunk almost all the way below the horizon. He turned to find the compartment empty except for Kris, who was staring at him with blue eyes.

He looked away for a second then turned back and asked, "Where did Rose and Ewan go?"

"Your cousin went to have a word with your brother I think, the Adamson boy said something about the loo." She said.

"Oh, what did I miss?" Albus asked, not really knowing what else to say.

"Nothing really. A lot of boring conversation mostly. The snack trolley came by a while ago, your cousin got you some Chocolate Frogs, here." She said, tossing three of the packages to Albus.

Albus caught all three in the air with relative ease, having inherited both of his parents natural Quidditch talent. "Thanks." He said, and looked up to find Kris with a surprised expression on her face.

"Nice catch." She said simply.

"Runs in the family I guess." Albus said back, shrugging.

"I guess so." Kris said, still not looking away.

Albus began to feel uncomfortable under her gaze.

"Er-I noticed that you've been looking at me a lot..." Albus said uncertainly.

"Did you?" She said back.

"Yeah, er-why?" Albus said, feeling foolish.

"You're an interesting person." She said, "And not like I expected."

Before Albus could ask exactly what she _had_ expected him to be like the door of the compartment slid open and Ewan stepped in.

"Hullo." He said to the two of them before sitting down. "I can't believe magic! Even the loo is-"

"I'd rather not hear about your adventures in magical bathrooms, thank you." Kris cut him off.

"Oh, sorry." Ewan said, looking slightly embarrassed.

Albus looked out the window just in time to see the sun pass completely under the horizon, shrouding the compartment in darkness for a moment before the enchanted lights of the express sprung into action.

At the same moment the lights came on, the door slid open yet again and Rose entered.

"Glad to see you're awake." She said jokingly to Albus. "James says we'll be arriving soon, so you should probably change into your robes, you can just slip them over your normal clothes." She added.

James and Ewan did as instructed (Kris and Rose already had their robes on), while the girls chatted about the opening feast.

It wasn't long after the boys had resumed their seats before they all felt the train begin to slow.

"Ah, we must be coming into the station!" Rose said excitedly.

"Yeah, I guess so." Albus said feeling nervous.

"Still wondering about the sorting?" Kris said to him, as though reading his mind.

"Yeah, I guess." Albus admitted.

"Don't worry Al, you'll be fine in any of the houses, just don't worry about it." Kris assured him.

"Alright." Albus said, feeling a bit better.

---

Albus stepped off the train behind the others with his trunk in tow. He barely had time to get his bearings before he was being jostled towards the carriages by the mass of students who had exited the train. Albus's attempts to stay with his friends seemed fruitless until he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Al?" He heard the gruff voice call.

Suddenly Albus was lifted off his feet, pulled away from the river of students, and set gently in front of the biggest man he'd ever seen.

"Hey Hagrid." Albus said happily, smiling up at his parent's friend.

"Nice ter see yeh Al, how're yer parents doin'?" Hagrid asked.

"They're great." Albus said.

"Ah, well that's good ter hear. Alrigh' now, come stand over here, I've gotta job ter do." Hagrid said before raising a lantern and turning to shout for first years.

Rose was the first one to get to him, leading Ewan with her.

"Hello Hagrid!" She said brightly.

"Well hey there Rose! Al's already here, I've got ter round up the rest of 'em though." Hagrid said.

Rose quickly made her way over to where Albus was standing, pulling Ewan along too.

"Hey Al, I got kind of worried when I couldn't find you after I got off, what happened?" Rose said, showing concern on her face.

"I just got carried off in the flow, I was fine though." Al said back trying not to be embarrassed.

"Oh well, be more careful then!" Rose jokingly scolded him. "I can't believe we're finally here!" She said excitedly.

A few more first years joined them at that point. Among them was Kris, who walked over to stand with the trio.

"That must be the biggest man I've ever seen!" She said, apparently unable to contain her awe.

"Yeah, but he's a big softy." Albus said back.

"Alrigh' is tha' everybody?" Hagrid asked.

When no denial came Hagrid led them to a group of boats docked out of the way on the shore of the lake.

"Alrigh' now, everyone and yer trunks in the boats, four to a boat." Hagrid told them.

They all did as instructed and clambered into the boats with their trunks. Albus got into the boat behind his three companions.

"Everyone alrigh'?" Hagrid asked. "Okay, then let's _go_."

The boats lurched off of the land they had be halfway beached on and into the water. The boats glided silently in formation towards a slowly growing speck of light in the distance which Albus took to be Hogwarts.

When they got close enough to make out the individual towers Albus heard a sharp intake of breath from Ewan's direction. He looked over to find Ewan regarding the castle with an expression of awe.

"Is that the school?" Ewan asked as they drew even nearer. "It's huge." He said.

Albus silently agreed with him, finding the scale of the castle to be quite intimidating.

The boats passed through a hidden cave mouth that was the beginning of a long tunnel that seemed to stretch underneath the school itself.

"They must be taking us up through the dungeons." Rose mused aloud.

"I guess so." Albus said, his mind elsewhere.

The boats seemed to be nearing their destination as Albus saw a round-faced man garbed in black robes standing on a dock waiting for their arrival.

When the boats docked themselves the students all climbed out.

"Thanks for getting them here Hagrid." The man said. "You can all leave your trunks in the boats, if you would all come over here in front of me please." He said to the students with a friendly voice.

The students complied quickly and Albus found himself standing at the front of the mob beside Rose.

"Hi Neville!" Rose whispered excitedly to the man.

Neville winked at her and Albus before addressing the students.

"I'm Professor Longbottom, if you would all follow me, the sorting will begin shortly."

**A/N** Woohoo, fresh story. Let me know what you guys think.


	2. Sorting

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, and I used to think Robert Pattinson was cool as Cedric before he did Twilight.

**Chapter Two**

**Sorting**

Neville led them through a maze of corridors and up several flights of stairs before they finally arrived in front of two huge wooden doors.

He turned to face the students, "When the doors open you'll all come in behind me to be sorted. When your name is called, just step forward and place the sorting hat on your head, you'll be sorted into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin." He said gesturing to each house's emblem as he said its name. "No matter what house you get sorted into, you're expected to represent it, and the school as best you can. If you perform well for your house then you can be awarded house points by a staff member, if you act inappropriately and reflect poorly on your house, then a teacher or prefect can take points away from your house. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup, it is a great honor, so I would encourage you to perform to the utmost of your abilities."

Albus thought it was a lot to take in, but was impressed by how well the professor had explained things. In the silence following Longbottom's conclusion Albus could faintly make out a strong voice from beyond the doors giving a speech of some sort, probably introducing the first years before they made their entrance, Albus concluded. He was drawn out of his thoughts by someone poking him in the ribs. He looked over to find that Kris had been the source of the interruption.

"You aren't still nervous are you?" She whispered to him.

"Maybe a bit." Albus admitted.

She opened her mouth to, Albus was certain, reassure him again, but was cut off by the voice from beyond the doors suddenly penetrating the doors as though they weren't there.

"_Please welcome, our first years!"_ The voice declared, accompanied by the double doors swinging open of their own accord.

The sight beyond the doors was spectacular, even to Albus who had known what to expect. Four long tables ran from one end of the giant room to the other, seating hundreds of students. At the other end of the room directly across from the doors a fifth and smaller table ran perpendicular to the rest, at which the professors and staff members sat. Directly in the middle of the table a man with dark hair that was graying and a kind but somewhat weathered face sat in simple dark robes. The only thing that betrayed his position of power was the ornate chair which resembled a throne that he sat on. Albus knew that this must be the headmaster.

As he followed the professor between the two innermost tables, Albus spotted his brother watching him from the Gryffindor table. A little farther up he saw his cousin Victoire, who smiled at him when she saw he had noticed her.

He almost bumped into Rose, who had been in front of him, before he noticed that Longbottom had come to a stop.

Albus watched intently as Neville approached an old three-legged stool, and spun to take up a position beside it. He waved his hand and suddenly an old and severely abused hat appeared on the stool. Albus spotted rips, patches, and what seemed to be scorch marks before a particularly large seam in the hat opened and it began to sing aloud.

Its song told the tale of the school's four founders, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Together they created Hogwarts, with each of them taking students into their house who exhibited their most valued qualities. Gryffindor took only the most courageous while Ravenclaw chose those with great intelligence. Slytherin picked only the most cunning, leaving the most loyal of students to Hufflepuff. The hat sang of the endurance of the school through the ages. Of hardships long past and triumphs between rivaling houses. His song ended by questioning the desires of the young first years waiting to be sorted. All they had to do was place him on their heads and be sorted into the house in which they best fit.

When the hat had finished its song Neville unveiled a roll of parchment from within his robes and read aloud.

"Ewan Adamson!" He called out.

Albus looked to his left, where he knew Ewan was, and saw that the boy had gone pale at his name. He took a deep breath and then marched courageously to the hat. Ewan picked the hat off it's perch and sat facing the students in it's place. He took another deep breath before placing the hat on his head. It slipped down his forehead, almost over his eyes, and was silent for a moment before declaring, "_GRYFFINDOR!_"

The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers as Ewantook the hat off and set it gingerly on the stool before happily joining the Gryffindor table, sitting in an empty seat near James.

And so it went, Neville would call off a name, the student would cautiously go through the motions, and after a varying amount of time the hat would fulfill it's duty. Andrew Capps went to Hufflepuff, Patrick Kellett went to Ravenclaw, Scorpius Malfoy, went to Slytherin, as one by one the students got sorted.

"Kris Paxton!" Neville called out.

Albus watched as Kris approached the sorting hat with her chin up. She swooped the hat off the stool, sat down and placed it on her head in one fluid motion. The hat seemed to take a while in making up it's mind before finally loudly announcing, "_SYLTHERIN!"_

The Slytherin table cheered while Kris made her way over to her new house mates. Albus saw James make an obscene gesture in Kris's direction, causing his irritation to flare before Neville said, "Albus Potter!"

Albus tried to forget his momentary annoyance as he walked towards the hat, suddenly aware that all the eyes in the room were focused on him. He slowly made his way to the stool where he picked up the hat and turned to face the rest of the students before sitting down and putting the hat on. The hat came down over his eyes, which he was glad for as he didn't really want to see everyone looking at him as the hat made its judgment.

Suddenly Albus heard the hat's voice in his head. "_Ah, another Potter comes to Hogwarts._" It said. "_Hmmm, and you're quite the challenge too, much like your father. The ambition is there, along with __bravery, and plenty of wit. Well, I've never met a student I couldn't sort, and you're no different, it'd better be..._"

"Gryffindor." Albus thought.

"_SLYTHERIN!_" The hat said.

Albus felt a wave of shock course through his body as he heard cheers from the Slytherin table. He removed the hat to find the other three houses watching him with expressions that echoed the way he was felt. He moved numbly to the Slytherin table and took a seat next to Kris, who had gestured Albus over happily and cleared a spot for him. Albus looked over to the Gryffindor table and immediately regretted doing so. His brother was staring at him with a look of pure betrayal on his face, Albus looked away, and turned to Victoire, who was looking at him in confusion. When he met her eyes though she smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders. Albus glanced up at the teacher's table and saw that the headmaster seemed to be observing him thoughtfully. He nodded to Albus and turned back to the sorting when he saw Albus returning his gaze. Finally Albus looked at Rose, she was regarding him with an unreadable expression on her face.

After Albus there were only a handful of students left to be sorted, a tall boy with dark hair went to Hufflepuff, and a pair of twins went to Ravenclaw, leaving only one person left to be sorted.

"Rose Weasley!" Neville called.

Rose walked briskly towards the stool, Albus recognized the look of determination she wore. She sat on the stool and placed the hat carefully on her head. The hat seemed once again to be taking it's time deciding, and Rose's face was scrunched up, as though she was concentrating heavily. Albus realized that she must be talking with the hat in her head. He wondered briefly if the hat might have sorted him differently if he'd conversed with it mentally as well, but the thought quickly faded as he turned back to the sorting.

Finally after what seemed to be an eternity the hat appeared ready to make an announcement.

"_SLYTHERIN!"_ The hat said.

The reaction of shock from the hall this time was even greater than when Albus had been sorted. James's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his head. Neville blinked several times very rapidly as though trying to wake from a dream. Victoire had gasped in shock at the news, a sound which was easily heard over the dead silence of the rest of the hall.

A few of the Slytherins seemed to get over their surprise in time to clap as Rose made her way over. Albus joined them and saw Kris clapping politely as well.

Rose took a seat next to Albus, who asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know, looks like we're in the same boat though." Rose said back cheerily before turning back to watch the rest of the festivities.

When the clapping died down Neville vanished the hat with the stool and took a seat next Hagrid's, who had yet to return from wherever he went after dropping off the first years. The headmaster stood and cleared his throat, the attention of the room immediately focused on him.

"Well that concludes this year's sorting ceremony." He began, "I have a few announcements to make, however over the past few years I have learned just how unwise it is to stand between the students and food." A wave of laughter rolled across the room, easing some of the tension present from the sorting. "Enjoy the feast!" He concluded grandly.

Before the headmaster had even sat down the various plates and platters of the table filled with food of all kinds. Albus heard several of the first years gasp in surprise that matched his own. The feeling was quickly replaced when his growling stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything but some chocolate frogs on the train since breakfast.

He loaded up his plate, and tried not to look over at the Gryffindor table.

"Don't worry about your brother." Rose said, apparently noticing his reluctance to look away from his plate. "He'll come around in a day or two." She continued.

"He should start using his brain." Kris commented offhandedly.

"Yeah." Albus said, not sure which of the two he was agreeing with.

"I wonder who the teachers are, I've read about some of them of course." Rose thought aloud, ignoring Kris. "That's obviously Hagrid's seat." She said gesturing to his still vacant chair which was about twice the size of the rest. "Then that's Nev-Professor Longbottom." She said, moving down the table. "I don't know who that is." She said skipping over a man with blond hair and glasses. "And that's obviously the headmaster, Professor Soranus."

"Who?" Albus asked.

"Professor Soranus? I read about him in one of our history books, he was mentioned a lot in the chapters after the Second War. Apparently he was the head of the Auror department during the reconstruction, before your dad took over. I'm surprised you're dad has never mentioned him before." Rose said, obviously enthusiastic about being able to utilize what she had already learned.

"Oh yeah, that's weird I guess." Albus said.

Rose continued down the line of teachers, but Albus wasn't paying attention. Instead he was focused on the headmaster, who Albus had sworn was looking at him not a minute earlier, but now seemed to be doing his best to look everywhere else.

"He _was_ looking at you." Kris whispered from Albus's left, "He's been watching you almost since we first came in, but you only caught him once." She informed him.

"Really, why is he doing that?" Albus asked.

"No idea. Maybe he's wondering how someone like _you_ got into Hogwarts." She joked.

"Hey!" Albus said a little too loudly, drawing looks from those seated around him.

"Just kidding," Kris said assuming a conversational tone, "But honestly I have no idea."

Albus barely had time to take a bite before Rose tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Al, have you noticed that Hagrid still isn't back? Surely it can't take that long to take care of the boats, can it?" Rose pointed out.

Albus looked to the left of the staff table where Hagrid's seat was. Sure enough, the seat was vacant, its owner nowhere to be found.

"Yeah, you're right. Where do you think he is?" Albus wondered.

"I don't know, I hope nothing went wrong." Rose said.

She turned back to the feast, leaving Albus to his thoughts. He absentmindedly pushed his mashed potatoes around while his mind wandered. He was quickly interrupted by a boy with blond hair and a pompous air about him shouting, "Hey Potter, are you going to play with your food or eat it?"

Albus turned towards him, and recognized him immediately as Scorpius Malfoy, a boy his father had cautioned him about. Albus decided it was alright for him to respond to Malfoy as he had been addressed, after all, he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Actually Malfoy, I was farming." Albus said with a straight face.

"What?" Scorpius said with a confused expression.

"You know, farming? Growing things? See, first you plow the field." Albus said while drawing parallel lines in his potatoes with a fork, "Then you plant the crops." He continued what transferring peas into his potatoes. "And then you wait for your crops to grow." Albus said while smoothing a layer of potato over the peas, "Then once all that hard work is over, you finally get to eat." He finished by taking a big bite of the potatoes.

Rose burst out laughing at this display, and many of their classmates joined in. Scorpius, however, did not look amused. He opened his mouth to retort, but was quickly cut off by a hand being laid on his shoulder.

The hand belong to a boy with dark hair and a somber face. He looked between Albus and Malfoy before speaking.

"Calm down Scorpius, he's only joking." He said to Malfoy.

"He's a disrespectful brat." Malfoy said.

"I'm sure he meant nothing by it, right?" The boy said turning to Albus.

"Right." Albus confirmed, now sorry that he hadn't just ignored Scorpius in the first place.

"See Scorpius? He was just giving you a hard time, and you know you should try not to make enemies on your first day, especially ones that will be sleeping in the same room as you." The boy said to Scorpius.

Scorpius ignored him and turned away from Albus back to whoever he'd been talking to before the altercation.

For the next hour or so Albus talked to his new house mates. The boy who had defended him earlier turned out to be Jacob Nott, one of three other boys Albus would share a dormitory with. The other two were Scorpius, who was still ignoring Albus, and a boy named Aidan Walker who had light brown hair and a face that Albus could only describe as average, with no distinct features to speak of.

Kris and Rose were busy talking to the other new Slytherin girls. Rose was talking to one that had a mass of thick dark hair which framed her rather square jaw. She spoke softly and Albus had to strain to hear her over the dull roar of the rest of the students in the hall. She introduced herself to Rose as Melody, which Albus thought was a rather ironic name considering how quietly she spoke. The other had short brown hair and wore glasses which made her grey eyes appear even duller in a face that seemed to rarely portray the true emotions of its owner. She introduced herself formally to Kris as Morgan Green and the two had conversed about their lives before Hogwarts. Something about the way they were talking seemed odd to Albus, he turned to Rose to ask her about it but she was already opening her mouth to explain.

"Pure-bloods," She said, "They teach their children to act more mature than other kids, especially when around other pure-bloods. Kind of silly if you ask me." She explained.

Albus noticed that Rose was right, the two girls were conversing like adults would, it was a strange sight coming from two eleven year olds.

Finally the various dishes were replaced with desserts which themselves vanished after a few minutes of gorging by the students. At last after all the plates were cleared, the headmaster stood again and the hall quieted to a stand still.

"Another year is upon us!" He began with a smile, "And with it will come new and exciting opportunities and experiences, however, students are to note that, as always, dueling in the corridors is strictly prohibited. Additionally, the Forbidden Forest is, still as the name suggests, forbidden to all students." He said humorously. He gestured to an old and worn out looking man with long thinning grey hair and a face full of wrinkles. "Also, Mr. Filch would like me to stress that Weasley Wizard Wheezes are restricted to the approved list, which you may find posted in your common rooms, and are not to be used in the corridors."

Rose chuckled at that, and Albus smiled at the thought of his uncle George's shop.

"Well that's all the announcements for this year, may it be filled with good fortune and may your heads be filled with knowledge before year's end! To your common rooms now, the prefects will guide the first years."

The students all stood and began to file out of the Great Hall, Albus followed Rose and the rest of the first years to where their assigned prefect waited. He was a tall and extremely skinny boy who wore glasses under his unruly brown hair. He introduced himself as Harry Colville and quickly set off down the steps towards the dungeons. He led them down a winding path before stopping in the middle of a hallway.

"The first week or so this might give you some trouble, but you'll get it eventually. After all you wouldn't have been sorted into Slytherin unless you had some smarts in you." Harry said to them.

Albus was having trouble understanding why he had stopped to tell them that in the middle of a dark hallway when the Prefect turned to a seemingly blank wall section.

"The password is _Wolfsbane_" He said. His last word was met with gasps from the students as the wall before them slid back and in to the other walls to reveal a common room filled with Slytherin students chatting with friends.

The older boy led the students through the common room which was furnished with dark green leather chairs and a couch centered around a stone fireplace. Scattered around the room were more chairs and tables, nearly all of which were occupied at the moment with students conversing about their summers. Harry led them through the crowded room to the back where two staircases led downwards into torch-lit tunnels below. Wooden doors lined either side of the tunnels with engravings carved into the front.

"These will be your dormitories," Harry said, "Boys down the left staircase, girls to the right, don't get it mixed up please. You shouldn't have any trouble figuring out which room is yours since it's carved into the door." He said dryly.

He informed them of the rules of the common room (which included "no blowing things up") and of their curfew times and then left them to join his friends at a table in the corner.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to my room, mom gave me a book that I'm dying to start on as a going-away gift." Rose said.

"Alright, I guess I'll be going to my room too then, I'm not really in the mood for... that." Albus said while gesturing towards the large number of Slytherins occupying the common room.

"Oh come on, are you afraid of crowds?" Kris asked.

"No, I'm just tired." Albus said back.

"Okay then, see you in the morning." She said.

Rose and Albus wished each other a goodnight before walking down their respective staircases. Albus examined the hallway, there were seven doors on the left and seven corresponding doors across the hallway. The doors to the right were labeled as bathrooms, apparently each year got its own. Albus found the door labeled "First Years" easily enough (it was the first door on the left) and entered the room. There were four curtained four-poster beds with trunks and other luggage in front of them. Albus found his trunk and changed into his pajamas in the deserted room.

With a yawn he got under the covers of his bed and drew the curtains shut. He thought back on his long day which had started back at his parents house and ended now hundreds of miles away at Hogwarts. He lay there wondering what tomorrow would bring and before long Albus had drifted off to sleep.

**A/N** – Chapter 2, huzzah. This has actually been written for a while, I just didn't want to post it so soon after Chapter 1. Unfortunately Chapter 3 will not be out until Saturday at the earliest. Oh, and if you think Slytherins are all evil and dark and kill babies for fun than sorry, keep in mind that this is years after the defeat of Voldemort, so things will be different. Chapter 3 will reveal a bit more about the overall plot, so stay tuned and review if you have something to say.


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